Florian Wirtz has earned a spot in Jurgen Klopp's first Germany squad, although the Liverpool star will not be in action for all of his country's games during the extended international break
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 17: Jürgen Klopp, head coach of Germany, speaks to the media during the presentation of the German UEFA Nations League squad at DFB-Campus on September 17, 2026 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp has named his first squad as Germany manager(Image: Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp has named Florian Wirtz in his first squad as Germany manager, although the Liverpool star will not be in action for two of his country’s games during the international break.
Klopp has begun his reign as his country’s new head coach, having taken over following the dismissal of Julian Nagelsmann after Germany’s surprise exit from the summer’s World Cup at the hands of Paraguay.
The legendary Reds boss has taken the unusual step of naming a 44-man squad for his first games in charge. A change to the international calendar will see an expanded first international break this season, with Germany and other nations set to play four games.
Klopp will lead his country in Nations League fixtures against the Netherlands (September 24), Greece (September 27 and October 4) and Serbia (October 1).
As such, he has split his squad into two, with 24 players named for the first couple of fixtures before he takes charge of a group of 20 for the second set.
"It's very unusual that you've got four games in two weeks with the national team," Klopp explained at a press conference in Frankfurt.
"I want to get to know as many players as possible in that time... It's not an A-team and a B-team, but the two squads have been created in a way that each fits well together."
Florian Wirtz in World Cup action for Germany.
Florian Wirtz will only play two of Germany's four games in the international break(Image: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Wirtz is named among the second group that will face Serbia and Greece at the beginning of October, meaning he will be afforded something of a rest, which should come as encouraging news for Liverpool.
Eleven new players are included in Klopp’s squad, while Deniz Undav and Leroy Sane are among the high-profile names to have been left out.
"It really felt like you had the feeling after the World Cup that German football is on its knees and we have no talents, no footballers," Klopp said.
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"In the past four weeks as we've been looking closely and plenty of talents have caught our eye. It's a squad for two or three years from now, not just for the next four international games."
Germany squad to face Netherlands and Greece: Ter Stegen, Nubel, Dahmen, Behrens, Rosenfelder, Treu, Tah, Schlotterbeck, Brown, Vagnoman, Bisseck, Kimmich, Amiri, Engelhardt, Nmecha, Stach, Conte, Havertz, Fuhrich, Musiala, Karl, Ebnoutalib, Gnabry, Schade.
Germany squad to face Serbia and Greece: Atubolu, Dahmen, Urbig, Anton, Baku, Jeltsch, Mittelstadt, Raum, Thiaw, Baur, Bischof, Janelt, Keidel, Pavlovic, Burkardt, Woltemade, Adeyemi, El Mala, Gruda, Wirtz, Scherhant.